


Suspicious Recognition

by offwhxte



Series: Religiously Unaffiliated [2]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Angry Reid, M/M, Pissed Hotch, Themes of Discrimination, angry babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-28 05:51:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10825089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/offwhxte/pseuds/offwhxte
Summary: Reid watched with judging eyes as yet another cookie-cutter white Catholic male stood from one of the front reserved seats and turned to wave at the applause of his colleagues.





	Suspicious Recognition

**Author's Note:**

> This could have worked as its own piece, but I found out I pretty much wrote their characters the same and used some of the same themes, so why not make it into a part of the series??

Reid watched with judging eyes as yet another cookie-cutter white Catholic male stood from one of the front reserved seats and turned to wave at the applause of his colleagues. It seemed the only way to be a leader in this line of work was to be religious and white and married in a heterosexual fashion with a kid or two. He shifted in the stiff auditorium chair, crossing his legs and uncrossing them. He never understood the appeal of recognizing those who were born into privilege and were jet-streamed through their training and ultimately ended up at a high rank. Reid was ahead of the women of the FBI, sure, but they knew how to hold their ground when the going got tough. Women were getting recognized, anyway, and Reid was still sat in the uncomfortable chair near the exit with a program trembling in his hands.  

The service achievement awards began being passed out, and Reid's face was bright red with some sort of fury that he couldn't quite place. The first man that was awarded had been giving Bibles out to the homeless on the weekends, the woman after him was using science and biblical teachings to educate youth (which, Reid thought solemnly, was almost impossible). Everything seemed so connected to religion, especially one's charitableness. Reid couldn't understand. The FBI, particularly the BAU, helped people every day, giving loved ones their missing family members, and often religion was coursing through the veins of the person behind the trigger of the gun, sword, or on some terrible occasions, guillotine. It seemed so wasteful to use religion as the number one indicator of charity and service when most of the men and occasional women were just normal people who admired a deity that Reid didn't. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe he was projecting his own imperfection on those who were ideal in his eyes. Discrimination. Was it possible for him to discriminate against those with no flaws? 

"Reid?" Hotch nudged Reid's ankle with the toe of his shoe, breaking him out of whatever self-deprecating puddle he'd stepped in. The younger agent sighed and dropped his head into his hands. "What's wrong?" 

"I'm..." Reid breathed into his palms, unintentionally making his upper lip and the tip of his nose a lot warmer and a lot wetter than they had been. "I'm fine." 

"You wanted one?" Hotch raised an eyebrow, pointing to the framed plaques that shimmered underneath the long lightbars that lined the ceiling like ceremonial glow-sticks.  

"No, I... I just don't understand the sentiment." 

"You never understand sentiment." It wasn't meant in a rude way, it was a genuine comment, but it still made Reid's blood boil. A few months of unofficially dating may have made Hotch feel more comfortable around him, but that didn't mean he had seen every part of Reid. Like the angry Reid that would consider breaking a plaque over his knee in front of his superiors and slashing the tires of whoever came up with the sick idea to put the higher class on pedestals with the glass from the frame. 

Reid scoffed and subtly pointed forward, "How many people of color have you seen walk up there and accept an award." 

"None." 

"Okay. How many religiously unaffiliated people have you seen walk up there?" 

"None. But, I may be assuming." 

"Have you heard a bio in this entire two hours and fifteen minutes we've been sitting here that didn't include religion or a mention of their perfect home life? Their beautiful children? Their wealth?" Reid glanced up through his fingers to see Hotch's mouth open with a look of unfamiliar shock on his face, "While minorities have a lesser probability of being chosen at random... when a group of people purposefully choose who to give recognition to, you'd think they wouldn't all look the same. Act the same. Live the same." 

Hotch looked back to the front of the room. "I'd never noticed." 

"It seems so obvious, but I... I'm just angry that no one says anything. Someone that isn't as low class as I am." Reid sighed, "I'd never be taken seriously." 

Hotch grinned ruefully as he tuned back into the words the man at the podium was saying and they followed his own life to a T. He looked helplessly to Reid, wanting some way out of it.  

"Go and accept it," Reid said slowly, "Say some passive aggressive thing and let me destroy it. For closure's sake."  

Hotch nodded slowly and threw on a smile as he pushed himself from his seat. People applauded, but Reid just set his head back into his hands.  

On the way home, Reid ran his fingers across the cold glass of the plaque and sighed. "You should keep this." 

"Hm?" Hotch hummed, his hands wringing around the leather of the steering wheel. 

"You aren't like them, you know. At least you're different," he said quietly, distantly, "You've shown interest in a guy before." 

"Is that all I have going for me?" 

"You listen," Reid offered. "And you're not blonde, white, male, completely Catholic, etcetera. You've talked to women without commenting on their weight, and you've certainly talked to gay people without offering to pray for them." 

Hotch nodded slowly and sighed, pulling into the parking lot of Reid's apartment complex. "I'm so pissed that I didn't notice how discriminatory the FBI is getting." 

"It was gradual," Reid said quietly, setting the plaque on the floor before reaching for the door handle.  

"Can I come in?" 

Reid froze. 

"I'm sorry, I can just--" 

"No, that sounds good. I didn't expect it. Considering my irritation earlier and my quietness in the car..." 

Hotch shook his head, "I don't want to go to bed angry and you make me happy." 

Reid sighed in relief and nodded, pulling his messenger around to his side as he pushed the door open. "That sounds good." 


End file.
